Malta has ratified the Council of Europe/OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

The convention is a freestanding multilateral agreement designed to promote international co-operation for a better operation of national tax laws, while respecting the fundamental rights of taxpayers.

It provides for all possible forms of administrative co-operation between the parties in the assessment and collection of taxes, in particular with a view to combating tax avoidance and evasion.

The convention has been signed by 39 countries including emerging and developing economies, and many more have expressed interest in signing it. 

Signing the Convention will give more credibility to Malta in the current international scenario where transparency and exchange of information on tax matters is concerned, the government said.

The signing is also expected to be beneficial to Malta in the ongoing review by the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

The government said that although Malta is already placed on the OECD’s white list, the signing will also serve to elevate Malta to white list status with jurisdictions that have already signed to it.

Such status is important in Malta's efforts to continue attracting further direct investment, thus creating more jobs on our shores, it said.